His was the first in an avalanche of withdrawals that rolled through the opening week of the U.S. Open—and perhaps the biggest.

When Robin Soderling announced, on the day he was to begin his Flushing Meadows campaign, that he could not play his first match, most assumed it was down to the wrist injury that had kept him out of competition throughout the U.S. Open Series. The tweet that followed, however, talked of illness.

Hi my friends, I am sorry but I just couldn’t play today. I had no energy, had stomach ache, headache and talking to the doctor we decided that I just couldn’t play. I really hope to recover quickly.

Other players made their exits with apparently similar symptoms, and so the media’s eyes quickly moved on to scan the draw and assess the improved prospects for the seeds in Soderling’s quarter—John Isner and Juan Martin Del Potro, in particular.

It was more than week before Soderling revealed— again in a tweet—that he had glandular fever.

It’s been a difficult period but I am getting better. Doctors confirmed that I have had mono for quite some time and this truly explains my lack of energy but my health is improving and I hope to be back on the court as soon as possible.

Although Soderling was scheduled to play in Bangkok next week, he has now revealed he will be unable to play any of the Asian swing. The virus is still with him and he must rest for at least a month more.

Soderling has not played a match since winning his fourth title of the year in Bastad in July. The title at his home tournament, however, masked what was already a worrying dip since his run of success early in 2011.

He concluded the spring hard-court season with second-round losses at both Indian Wells and Miami and followed them with opening-match defeats in the first clay events at Barcelona and Estoril.

He enjoyed a brief upturn through the Madrid and Rome Masters and Roland Garros after beginning a new coaching partnership with fellow Swede Fredrik Rosengren and sounded full of confidence about his prospects for the rest of the year.

“Now finally, my body feels good," Soderling said. "I struggled a little bit with some injuries the past couple of months…I am going to work hard now and hopefully I can do well in the States.”

Instead, he now looks into an abyss of lost ranking points and the likelihood of missing the World Tour Finals in London. For Soderling has big points to defend both in Asia—where he last year reached the quarters in Kuala Lumpur, Beijing and the Shanghai Masters—and in the European indoor season—quarters in Stockholm, semis in Valencia and his first Masters title in Paris.

Indeed, with David Ferrer already ahead of him in the top five, Soderling faces the possibility of slipping behind Mardy Fish, Tomas Berdych, Jo-Wilfried Tsonga and Del Potro by the end of the year. Should he be unable to play for the rest of the season, he could fall outside the top 10 for the first time in more than two years.

His absence at a third consecutive end-of-year final in London will be a loss not just to him but to the event, for there has always been something about the Swede that makes him stand apart from the rest of tour.

While he follows in the footsteps of countrymen such as Bjorn Borg, Mats Wilander and Stefan Edberg who painted a Scandinavian image of fleet-footed, nimbly-built, flaxen-haired players, Soderling claims little of that inheritance.

However, what he lacks in grace of movement he makes up for in weight of shot. He strides rather than walks the baseline and hits a tennis ball with the kind of power that snaps like a pistol shot.

He plays in an era that expects its stars to be open access, media friendly and style conscious, when he prefers low key, private and unstarry. Few other players of Soderling’s stature, for example, would have not more than 30 words devoted to their “personal life” on Wikipedia. His own website is equally sparse when it comes to himself—and the ATP site, too.

Soderling does not joke like Novak Djokovic, charm like Rafael Nadal, nor is he conversationally expansive like Roger Federer. Instead, he is more reticent about stepping into the media limelight. He chose the quiet summer hiatus, for example, to launch not one but three charitable campaigns.

In fact, so successful is he at maintaining a low profile that it’s easy to forget Soderling made his persistent rise into the elite top five during one of the sport’s most competitive periods and has stayed there for over a year—until now.

In handling such a disappointing setback after winning three of his first four tournaments in 2011, Soderling has remained just as low-key. The latest tweet keeps it simple, as usual:

Very sorry to disappoint my fans, tournaments, and sponsors but I am still not able to play. My mono is not completely cured yet and so I have to take another month off. Hope to be ready for Stockholm Open in the middle of October.

Whenever he does make it back, it will be without fanfares, fireworks or fuss. Let us hope it is soon.

Björn Borg is skeptic about the swedish tennis stars future: "How much is he prepared to give when he comes back?"

Robin Söderling has not played a Grand Slam tournament since Wimbledon last year. Now Björn Borg is doubting Robin's chances to play himself back to the absolute top.

- That he comes back to the shape and consistency he had before I don't think it will happen, says the tennis legend to Sportbladet.

US Open begins on monday, but just like the four previous Grand Slam-torunaments there is no swedish player in men's singles.

Robin Söderling is still in uncertain struggle with mono and has not played a match since July 17th last year, when he demolished David Ferrer in the Swedish Open-final in Båstad.

The situation doesn't only worry the 28-year old from Tibro, but also the greatest in swedish tennis. Behind Söderling there is nothing, then nothing, then nothing and then anonymous players like Patrik Rosenholm, Michael Ryderstedt, Christian Lindell and Carl Bergman.

- Me and everyone else that loves tennis hope that Robin gets the chance to come back. We all wait for the day when he can play matches again. Robin is needed for swedish tennis, says Björn Borg.

Maximum bad luck

Sportbladet met the former world number one at a hotell in central Stockholm.

Robin Söderling was ranked number 4 at best. He reached two consecutive finals in French Open and won 10 ATP-titles before the sickness forced him away from tennis.

-He's had maximum bad luck, says the 56-year old Björn Borg, who doubts that Söderling can find his former self.

-I think he will have huge problems to get back to the absolute topp. If he becomes fully healthy he can still win big tournaments, but to win a Grand Slam title, to be number one an to be in the absolute top I think will be very hard.

That Björn Borg is skeptic is not only due to Robin Söderling being without match practice and dropping some of the physisque he'd built since childhood.

-The mental aspect is another important thing. Robin has not played tennis for a long time and is becoming a father soon. He's dropped the 100% focus, because there is a life outside tennis. To then throw yourself into the tough training and focus on tennis to 100%....How much is he willing to give when he comes back? I don't know how he thinks.

Everyone tries

Do you have any contact with Robin?

-No, but I've seen him occasionaly. I know he feels better, but not good enough.

Do you know what ranking Swedens highest ranked player, Patrik Rosenholm, has on the ATP-ranking?

-I'd guess around 300.

377. That number most associate with text-tv, not swedish tennis,

-Exactly, haha. We can only hope it turns and we all know what Björkman, Johansson, Norman, Kulti and Tillström does....Everyone tries. There is organization, will and knowledge, but it takes five to seven years before we can see new names from Sweden. We simply need patience.

Are you tempted to commit to any project?

-No, there is many skilled in the younger generation that are already involved, that has knowledge and knows tennis. They are making an awesome job, says Björn Borg.

yeah..that is the big difference between men's and women's tournaments on the returning from a long break. Some Female players, like Maria Sharapova and Kim Clijsters, can come back from the injury or as a mother player and even win the GS titles. But on men's tour, the competetion is so cruel. A huge gap has been digged between the top class and the rest.

But as battle with mono stretches on, the new parent prepares for life's next steps

Updated: November 26, 2012, 10:51 AM ET
By Ravi Ubha | ESPN.com

On a Saturday morning in Stockholm, Robin Soderling is taking the dog for a walk.

"Can you hold on for a second, please?" Soderling asks over the telephone. "A car is coming and I have no leash."

He and longtime partner Jenni Mostrom became parents for the first time six weeks ago and together they live in a newly purchased apartment. Given Soderling's career earnings of more than $10 million, money isn't an issue.

It all seems so perfect, and Soderling knows he has it good.

But for the 28-year-old, one thing is missing: A return to the tennis court. For the past year and a half, the two-time French Open finalist has been out of the game because of mononucleosis. While Roger Federer and Andy Roddick had milder cases of the viral illness, Soderling, like Mario Ancic, wasn't as fortunate.

As 2013 approaches, Soderling -- unranked after occupying the fifth spot when his hiatus began -- doesn't know if he will ever play professionally again. The uncertainty is at times almost unbearable.

"The hope, the hopelessness, then the hope again, then the hopelessness -- that really kills me," Soderling said. "I feel really good, then I start to practice, and then I think maybe in a couple of months I can come back and I really believe it. Then I do a bit too much and wake up one morning not feeling well again."

The latest setback occurred recently.

Soderling was buoyed because he was able to train every other day for an hour. But instead of gradually picking up the pace, a cold and flu meant he had to stop again. He rested for 2½ weeks before gently resuming training.

"In the past couple of months I had my best weeks and days, which gives me the hope, but I get setbacks and feel worse again," Soderling said. "Overall it's getting better but I'm not as desperate to come back anymore tomorrow. I will give it a shot, of course, but I learned to live with the thought that maybe it will not be possible. Whatever happens, I will feel I did all I could."

Soderling has consulted a plethora of doctors, even flying to California in the spring for another expert opinion. Earlier tests revealed that his thyroid wasn't functioning properly, leading to extreme fatigue. Now the results are improved, but the Swede isn't 100 percent.

"In some people, mono can affect them for a long period of time," Paul Chatrath, a London-based ENT consultant and surgeon who has treated mono patients, said in a telephone interview. "Others seem to get rid of it more quickly. It is thought to be due in part to the severity of the initial infection and also to do with the individual person's own immune system and the ability to fight it off from the first attack."

Soderling thinks about the summer of 2011 and wonders if pausing prior to or after the French Open would have limited the damage. At Roland Garros, where Soderling and his heavy forehand ended Rafael Nadal's reign in 2009 and snapped Federer's semifinal streak at majors a year later, he was tired in the mornings and following short practice sessions.

He managed to reach the quarterfinals, losing to Nadal, who has been sidelined himself for five months with a knee injury. Bernard Tomic beat Soderling in the third round at Wimbledon.

"Wimbledon was not good at all," Soderling said. "I was vomiting in the morning and I had a fever. I don't know why I played. But then it's Wimbledon and you want to play, and that's what you've done your whole life. You've pushed away your feelings of tiredness and tried harder."

As a clay-court tournament approached in Bastad, Sweden, Soderling said he felt "dead" and considered pulling out. Suddenly there was an upturn in his health, he competed and went on to win the title, dropping only 13 games in four matches.

"I played, and played really well, but I felt something wasn't right," he said. "A few days later for the first time I got really, really sick."

His extended break was underway.

For Fredrik Rosengren, Soderling's most recent coach, it was a case of deja vu. He was Ancic's coach when the Croatian was stricken in 2007. Despite reappearing on the tour, Ancic was never the same and retired at the age of 26.

"The only thing I can be is support," Rosengren, who last week accepted an offer to become Sweden's Davis Cup captain with Soderling's blessing, said in a telephone interview. "I can support him every day to tell him that tennis is not as important as his health. This is the only thing that counts in life; tennis is the second thing here.

"At the same time, I know that he wants to come back and play tennis. He loves the lifestyle, the travel. He actually said to me when we were walking in the streets of Stockholm during (October's) Stockholm Open: 'It would have been so nice to play (at the stadium) tonight.'"

Soderling said it's not as painful to watch tennis on television now as it was months ago, and the arrival of daughter Olivia has altered his perspective. Soderling was taking a cooking course when Jenni, who was about a week past the original due date, called and told him to get home.

The moment had come.

Olivia, according to dad, sleeps through the night -- "we've been lucky," Soderling said. With a slight chuckle, Soderling admits to changing diapers "5 to 10 percent" of the time.

"For the first time in my life I'm not putting myself first, which is a very strange feeling," Soderling said. "It's also nice. All my life I've been focusing on tennis, training, getting results. Jenni and I wanted to have kids pretty early, but we waited. We always thought it was better in the future. Now I don't understand why we ever waited."

The wait for Soderling's return to tennis continues.

"I don't want my career to be finished yet," he said. "I feel I have at least five more years in me. But I still have a lot of things to be thankful for. The (mono) could have happened when I was 18 or 20. I was 27. Up to now I've had a good career."

I'm NOT getting the wibe he's close to a comeback. When Båstad comes around it's been 2 full years.

At least Ancic had a fallback plan and studied to lawyer. Robin I don't know what his fallback is. He still aims for comeback but his progress is so slooooooow.

Even if he is too stubborn to set a date (that's like the main-point in his recent interviews) I think he should. He asks why?, but with slow progress and even more time away from the tour the chance his comeback becomes a total failure increases. I think mentally that could be more devastating than just wrap it up and move on in his life.